State Treasurer Dan Rutherford Wednesday told a Republican group in Springfield that his campaign is going on, and the party needs to embrace the diversity of Illinois to win more statewide elections.

“This campaign’s going to be hard,” Rutherford told about 25 people at a Sangamon County Republican Network lunch at Saputo’s restaurant. “There’s been a number of things that have been said and done that have not been where I ever anticipated the campaign to be, nor have I ever seen happen in politics in Illinois to this degree before. I will just tell you that what I want to do is talk about the issues.”

Rutherford, of Chenoa, has been accused in a federal lawsuit of forcing political work from and sexually harassing a former employee. Rutherford has denied the allegations, and says he hasn’t released a taxpayer-funded report on the issue on advice of counsel. Rutherford also has accused another GOP candidate for governor, Bruce Rauner of Winnetka, of being behind the allegations, but has said he doesn’t have proof. Rauner has denied any involvement.

Just before the lunch, Rutherford said that his supporters are “absolutely” staying with him.

“I’ve not had anyone say, ‘Get out of this race,’” Rutherford said.

His strategy to win if all four candidates stay in, he said, is “Working hard.”

At the lunch, Rutherford said he was able to build a winning coalition when he won statewide for treasurer in part by recognizing the ethnic patchwork that makes up the state, including that 10 percent of DuPage County residents are Asian.

“We have to be a party that understands that there’s a great deal of diversity out there,” he said. “Each one of you that are out there now running for office, you have to reach out and understand that the Latino, the African-American, the Asian-American … we need to be very sensitive to the fact that these are communities that we’ve not done well in.”

“We are not backing down,” Rutherford said of his own campaign. “We are going to stand tall, and I admit, it’s going to be hard. … But I’m going to still continue to advocate for what I believe in.”

Also in the March 18 GOP race for governor are state Sens. Bill Brady of Bloomington and Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale.